'Body politic' definitions:

Definition of 'body politic'

From: WordNet
noun
A politically organized body of people under a single government; "the state has elected a new president"; "African nations"; "students who had come to the nation's capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an industrialized land" [syn: state, nation, country, land, commonwealth, res publica, body politic]

Definition of 'Body politic'

From: GCIDE
  • Body \Bod"y\, n.; pl. Bodies. [OE. bodi, AS. bodig; akin to OHG. botah. [root]257. Cf. Bodice.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. The material organized substance of an animal, whether living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person. [1913 Webster]
  • Absent in body, but present in spirit. --1 Cor. v. 3 [1913 Webster]
  • For of the soul the body form doth take. For soul is form, and doth the body make. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The trunk, or main part, of a person or animal, as distinguished from the limbs and head; the main, central, or principal part, as of a tree, army, country, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Who set the body and the limbs Of this great sport together? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • The van of the king's army was led by the general; . . . in the body was the king and the prince. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster]
  • Rivers that run up into the body of Italy. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The real, as opposed to the symbolical; the substance, as opposed to the shadow. [1913 Webster]
  • Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. --Col. ii. 17. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. A person; a human being; -- frequently in composition; as, anybody, nobody. [1913 Webster]
  • A dry, shrewd kind of a body. --W. Irving. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. A number of individuals spoken of collectively, usually as united by some common tie, or as organized for some purpose; a collective whole or totality; a corporation; as, a legislative body; a clerical body. [1913 Webster]
  • A numerous body led unresistingly to the slaughter. --Prescott. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. A number of things or particulars embodied in a system; a general collection; as, a great body of facts; a body of laws or of divinity. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Any mass or portion of matter; any substance distinct from others; as, a metallic body; a moving body; an a["e]riform body. "A body of cold air." --Huxley. [1913 Webster]
  • By collision of two bodies, grind The air attrite to fire. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Amount; quantity; extent. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. That part of a garment covering the body, as distinguished from the parts covering the limbs. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. The bed or box of a vehicle, on or in which the load is placed; as, a wagon body; a cart body. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. (Print.) The shank of a type, or the depth of the shank (by which the size is indicated); as, a nonpareil face on an agate body. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. (Geom.) A figure that has length, breadth, and thickness; any solid figure. [1913 Webster]
  • 13. Consistency; thickness; substance; strength; as, this color has body; wine of a good body. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Colors bear a body when they are capable of being ground so fine, and of being mixed so entirely with oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same color. [1913 Webster]
  • 14. (A["e]ronautics) The central, longitudinal framework of a flying machine, to which are attached the planes or a["e]rocurves, passenger accommodations, controlling and propelling apparatus, fuel tanks, etc. Also called fuselage. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • After body (Naut.), the part of a ship abaft the dead flat.
  • Body cavity (Anat.), the space between the walls of the body and the inclosed viscera; the c[ae]lum; -- in mammals, divided by the diaphragm into thoracic and abdominal cavities.
  • Body of a church, the nave.
  • Body cloth; pl.
  • Body cloths, a cloth or blanket for covering horses.
  • Body clothes. (pl.)
  • 1. Clothing for the body; esp. underclothing.
  • 2. Body cloths for horses. [Obs.] --Addison.
  • Body coat, a gentleman's dress coat.
  • Body color (Paint.), a pigment that has consistency, thickness, or body, in distinction from a tint or wash.
  • Body of a law (Law), the main and operative part.
  • Body louse (Zool.), a species of louse ({Pediculus vestimenti}), which sometimes infests the human body and clothes. See Grayback.
  • Body plan (Shipbuilding), an end elevation, showing the conbour of the sides of a ship at certain points of her length.
  • Body politic, the collective body of a nation or state as politically organized, or as exercising political functions; also, a corporation. --Wharton. [1913 Webster]
  • As to the persons who compose the body politic or associate themselves, they take collectively the name of "people", or "nation". --Bouvier. [1913 Webster]
  • Body servant, a valet.
  • The bodies seven (Alchemy), the metals corresponding to the planets. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe (=call), Mars yren (=iron), Mercurie quicksilver we clepe, Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin, and Venus coper. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Body snatcher, one who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave, vault, etc.; a resurrectionist.
  • Body snatching (Law), the unauthorized removal of a dead body from the grave; usually for the purpose of dissection. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'body politic'

From: Moby Thesaurus